Reflecting, sharing, learning, and conversing
~The views expressed in this blog are my own and do not (necessarily) reflect the views of Wayne Highlands School District.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

The Summit

At this time last week I was in my element, surrounded by like-minded folks, immersed in topics of learning and technology, two of my passions, and loving every minute of it! If you have not yet seen Sir Ken Robinson talk about the "element," you can check out this TED talk or see his book here.

The 2010 Keystone Technology Integrator's (KTI) Summit was an amazing experience! Having attended the summit in 2007, I decided to leave the classroom and attempt a new role, of technology integration coach. This time, attending as a mentor, I was looking to soak up as many good and new ideas as humanly possible. While I could go on and on forever about the experience, I have boiled down my week into my own "top 5" list!

The Top 5 Take Aways from the 2010 KTI Summit

5. The Livescribe pen has so many practical classroom applications. (post more on that later)

I couldn't agree more, Chris! In fact, we are fortunate enough to have K-8th grade technology classes where many of the tools are introduced, as well as integration periods for teachers and students. I get concerned when the focus become "I have this tool how can I plug it into my curriculum," instead of "this is my curriculum and I think I could use a wiki as a tool to accomplish my goal." But, certainly, teachers need to be shown tools and there is a time and place for the instruction of how to use the tool.

I am glad the week went as great as I had hoped. Today was a bit of a downer listening to admins who constantly want to see research about tech making teachers better.

It was a strange conversation as they tried to talk like they understand but clearly don't see a need for connectedness or much of technology.

They are quick to hold up a CFF banner, but a very lacking on what made CFF a success, the network of teachers who were given tools to improve their classroom and surrounded by supporters and peers in the same situation.